5 votes

2019 Baseball Hall of Fame results announced, Mariano Rivera first ever unanimous selection, Mussina, Halladay, Martinez also elected

1 comment

  1. Ellimist
    (edited )
    Link
    Baseball history was made today as Mariano Rivera became the first player ever to be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. While it was never in doubt that Rivera WOULD be elected, the...

    Baseball history was made today as Mariano Rivera became the first player ever to be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. While it was never in doubt that Rivera WOULD be elected, the fact that he was the first to be unanimous is somewhat polarizing. There are others who came before that deserved unanimous election(Ken Griffey Jr, most recently) so the fact that a career reliever/closer is the first to do it has rubbed some people the wrong way. The most impressive thing about Rivera? He threw one pitch. The Cut Fastball, aka the cutter. Rivera forged a Hall of Fame career throwing one pitch that was so good, more men have walked on the moon than have scored off Rivera in the post season. During his final season retirement tour, Rivera was actually given a rocking chair made from the bats his cut fastball broke. Another fun fact, Rivera was also the last player to wear the number 42. In 1997, MLB retired the number 42 league wide in honor of Jackie Robinson. 13 players wore the number 42 that year and MLB allowed all to keep it for the rest of their careers.

    Edgar Martinez faced an uphill battle having been a designated hitter for the bulk of his career. Facing his 10th and final year of eligibility, Martinez finally broke the barrier that DH's weren't deserving of Hall of Fame election. Martinez deserves to have more said here but I didn't watch much of him.

    Mike Mussina squeaked in with 76.7%(75% is the threshold). Mussina had a polarizing case of Hall of Very Good vs Hall of Fame. He was never considered the "best" of his generation, often being overshadowed by pitchers like Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Roy Halladay, etc. He never won a Cy Young Award, finishing 2nd in 1999 to Martinez. What Mussina did bring was a remarkable consistency in the Steroid Era. He never threw hard but had an impressive array of pitches that he used to keep hitters off balance on the way to 270 wins. My biggest regret for Mussina? He never won the World Series. He spent 8 years on Yankees teams that got close but didn't finish. He retired in 2008 after posting his first 20 win season. The Yankees won the World Series in 2009.

    Roy Halladay, aka Doc Halladay, was sort of the anti thesis to Mussina. He pitched 16 seasons compared to Mussina's 18, racking up 203 wins versus Mussina's 270, pitching 2750 innings compared to Mussina's 3,650. However, he was one of, if not, the most dominant pitchers of the 2000s. From 2002-2011, he won the Cy Young for both the AL and NL, threw a perfect game, a post season no hitter, won 20 games 3 times, won 15+ games 8 times, throwing 200+ innings 8 times, and threw 5+ complete games 7 times. Halladay likely got some sympathy votes in his first year of eligibility due to his tragic passing at age 40 in a plane crash but he absolutely deserved to be in, no question about it.

    2 votes